atkins@opus.UUCP (Brian Atkins) (05/13/85)
Here is what I have received so far on renter's insurance.
Unless something special comes in after this point, I won't post additional
replies.
THANKS to the multitude of replies!!!! I hope this information
helps people as much as it has helped me.
Thanks again!!!
Brian Atkins ...{attunix, hao, allegra, ucbvax}!nbires!atkins
NBI Inc., P.O. Box 9001, Boulder CO 80301 (303) 444-5710
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As a condo *owner*, I also have renter's insurance, since the homeowner's
association insurance covers everything but my personal belongings. I own
nice furniture, TV, stereo, washer/dryer, waterbed, etc., so I purchased
$18,000 worth of coverage from State Farm for $97/year. Use this for
comparison. Most major insurance companies (such as State Farm) offer renter's
insurance at comparable prices. Make a list of the valuable stuff you want
to insure and take pictures of it. Make sure some of your friends know what
you have as well. If your stuff is stolen or the place burns down, you will
need to be able to prove what you had in order to make a claim.
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You can get renter's insurance from any insurance company/agent.
Mine costs about $85/year for $10K property and $100K liability
(the minimum coverage from State Farm). You may need riders for
home computers (i.e. "business equipment") and/or jewlery.
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I pay Allstate about $100 for $15,000 coverage for my renters
insurance in Naperville, IL.
Never filed a claim, so I can't evaluate Allstate's service
yet.
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I recommend getting quotes on both depreciated value and
replacement cost coverage. Depreciated value basically pays you
for what you could sell your stuff for, whereas replacement cost
pays you what it costs to replace your stuff with equivalent new
stuff. I have replacement cost coverage with State Farm and I
think it's a good deal. In either case, you should keep a good
record of what you have, with receipts for the expensive stuff.
Pictures (or videotapes) help. You don't keep the records in the
condo, obviously. Finally, make sure there's also liability
coverage.
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It's not that confusing and the price is quite reasonable. You can get
about $10,000 coverage for about $60-100/year. If you have expensive specific
items (I have a viola) you can add on special (appraised value) coverage for
it. The rest of your things are usually under the ACV (actual cash value)
clause - that means you won't get enough back to actually replace the item.
You should also look into REPLACEMENT cost insurance. It costs more.
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Definitely get insurance that covers REPLACEMENT cost, not
assessed value; especially if you got good deals on new stuff.
You don't have to haggle over the worth of your things.
It's likely a little more expensive (and not that easy to find)
but worth it. I think Aetna offers it; shouldn't be more than
$150 per year for about $15,000 worth of coverage.
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I'm a homeowner, and found that American Family Insurance seemed to
offer me a combination of lowest cost, good service, and accessible
agents. A good friend, who rents, recently needed to renew his
renter's insurance, and switched over to American Family after
calling my agent and checking out the possibilities. Check your
Yellow Pages for a local agent and see whatthey offer.
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I live in NJ and have what's called an HO-6 (or condo) policy that
most any insurance company seems to offer. This policy covers the
interior of my townhouse plus my belongings.
You need to choose the amount of coverage, a deductible,
a liability limit, and a coverage if someone hurts themself
at your place and maybe some other odds and ends.
These choices determine your premium.
You may also want replacement value insurance.
Replacement value insurance isn't EXACTLY what it says.
On my policy, if something is damaged, the insurance co. will give
me up to 400% of the value of the item now, which may be less than
the cost to replace the item.
The way I look at it is this:
If all my stuff is brand new, I don't need replacement value
insurance.
If all my stuff is 5 years old, I want replacement insurance.
It doesn't cost too much to get.
Insurance will probably run you a bit over $100 depending on all
your selections.
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I hope this may help you. I have renter's insurance through State Farm
Insurance, who by the way insures my & my wife's car.
Replacement insurance up to $15,000 @125.00/year, $100.00 deductible.
Just in case your unsure what the difference is: Normal insurance covers
you in case of fire, flood, stolen good etc. So does Replacement ins.
BUT.... in case of theft, replacement insurance will (less $100 deductible)
refund the purchase price of the item. Normal renter's insurance does not!
For example: You have your $700 JVC monitor stolen. Normal renter's
insurance would pro-rate the current value of the monitor based on age
and usage (probably used alot) and remit this value (minus deductible).
Replacement insurance would remit the purchase price (minus deductible).
The bottom line: If you have many singularly expensive items, go for
replacement ins. Also save all your receipts!
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Well, I have State Farm Tenant's Insurance. I forget how much I paid for
it here in Florida; when I lived in Tennessee it was around $100/year. Here
I think it is more.
If you get insurance from a reliable company (I feel state farm is the best,
myself; this is sort of multiple-generation opinion, going back to my father,
who had more insurance policies than anyone I've ever heard of, and always
felt State Farm was the best) they will generally ask you what you have that
needs insuring and make out the policy to cover it. Actually my current
policy (which I think is now in the $120 range) actually overinsures things,
since I know I have nowhere near the minimum coverage amount required (i.e.,
they require you to get a certain level of coverage), but since I am always
buying new things I think that is probably safer than underinsuring it and
then having it stolen or something and not being able to collect because the
coverage wasn't enough. I would stay away from Allstate, and in general the
companies that do a lot of heavy advertising or offer unusually low rates;
insurance nowadays is something of a "rip off", so the prices for good
insurance are generally kind of high. I think it's worthwhile though.
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If you ever get a chance to talk with someone who has been burglarized,
the big recommendation is to get replacement insurance. Without it,
you get reimbursed for the book value of what was stolen. Consider
a 5-year old stereo system, for instance. It's depreciated value is
much less that what it would cost you to replace it.
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I have renters insurance with a replacement clause. Basically, when I decided
to pickup insurance, I didn't want the co. to depreciate all my belongings
should they be ripped off or burned up. I recommend this type insurance.
Mine is with Traveler's but my agent found several who dealt with this type
policy. I pay about $100 / year which is dependent on location, value of
goods, and type house/apt you live in (frames cost more than bricks). There
are draw backs to this type policy, like if you bought a pc years ago for 5K
and now they only cost 2K ... well you get the picture. On the whole though,
I think you'd come out ahead with them replacing the goods rather than paying
you a depreciated value should you need to collect.
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What you want is called "tenant's insurance". It basically covers
two things:
general property (usually jewelry is additional)
general liability
I carry about $15,000 in general property, and 500,000 in liability, and
it runs me something like $160 a year, with USAA Casualty. To make
the general property insurance useful, it's a good idea to take pictures
of your stuff, mark down model and serial numbers, retain sales slips,
and keep good records about what you have. Example: I have a large
record collection, which I have insured (since it's valued at about
$3,200). I have a list of each album I own, its condition, and then I
took a set of pictures of my record shelves.
For jewelry, things are different. My insurance covers up to $300 in
jewelry; additional coverage is extra. If you do have jewelry
covered, you have to get an appraisal, which includes them taking
pictures and making valuations based on the current prices of diamonds/
gold/silver or whatever is in it.
You can have your insurance company send you a booklet that is very
helpful in going through your apartment and making note of your
possessions that should be insured, and what the approximate replacement
cost is; this should give you some idea as to what coverage limits to
get.
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When I was renting I had renters insurance from Farmers. It covered
loss due to fire, theft ect. for up to $10,000 or $1000 for loss while
traveling. Cost (1 year ago) was about $70 a year.
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I found the cheapest insurance was with the people who did my car insurance.
You probably want replacement insurance. Where you live will depend on
if you can get it (difficult to get in Dallas, easy to get in Seattle).
I am paying $104/yr for $15000 of replacement. That has two deductables
$250 - theft
$100 - fire
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Renter's insurance is a fairly standard product, and most if not all
insurance companies should offer it. It protects the contents of your
home against fire, theft, tornado, falling objects, etc. (but usually
not against floods or war). Typical policies may also include liability
coverage ("at no extra charge"). Other things to consider are "replacement
cost" riders that pay you what it takes to replace the lost item, rather
than what that old worn out item was worth, and off-premises coverage,
so that if your property is stolen or damaged away from home, you still
get paid.
I have coverage with State Farm, their service is good, and I think
their rates are competitive. My policy automatically includes off-premises
coverage, and when I made a claim recently I found another nice thing:
On small claims in which you have receipts to prove your claim, the agent
can write you a check on the spot. I don't know whether other companies
do that, but it's a nice touch.
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We (three of us) rent a small house in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. We
worried a great deal about leaving the house on the weekend while it was
uninsured. I was pleasantly surprised at what I could get in terms of
insurance coverage. A State Farm agency here in town provided full
replacement cost insurance for $106./yr (payable in quarterly premiums,
this is quite palatable).
Full replacement cost is porbably the key phrase. This means they will pay
for whatever it costs to buy you a brand new whatever if your whatever, even
old and beat-up, is stolen/lost/etc. There are certain explicit limits on
how much of something in one category (jewelry, china, electronic
equipment) they will replace. These can be exceeded with inexpensive
riders for additional protection.
I found the whole process very easy and quite reasonable, especially for
the peace of mind it has given me. Don't put off getting it.
One more word ... although we've never had to make a claim, it is probably
a good idea to keep all receipts for your valuables, and take as many
photographs as you are willing to of the things you don't have receipts
for. The more documentation you have when you make a claim, the better.
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I have renters insurance through State Farm. It costs about $96 a
month for stereo, TV, VCR, camera, microwave, etc. That price also
includes an extra amount for jewelry.
Of course, insurance rates depend on where you live. Things like
security buildings, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers help.
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My current renters insurance has $300,000 in personal liability (if someone
gets hurt in my apt. and sues me, etc.) and $22,000 in property coverage.
This all costs about $180 a year in Chicago. It also includes replacement cost
coverage (they replace my damaged or stolen property no matter what the current
price is) and also covers loss of use (my TV gets stolen, so I rent one until
they replace it)
Hope this helps.
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Personally, I recommend Nationwide. I pay about $370/yr for auto
(up from $240 -- I had an accident in January) and about $100/yr for condo
(about 1/2 that when I was renting).
I've never had a claim on renter's/condo policies but I've had two
on my auto policy and had no reason to complain either time.
When I moved from KS to MO about five years ago (just across the
state line) Farmers' wanted to double my premiums. I told them to "stuff
it" and called every Co. in the phone book. Nationwide offered the best
deal.